Liuhuaxiyuan Park in Guangzhou, the capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, is one of the places where Queen Elizabeth II visited 36 years ago. She brought an oak tree with her for Guangzhou as a present and planted it in the park. The tree came all the way from Windsor Great Park in the UK.

The White Swan Hotel, one of the most recognized five-star luxury hotels in China, is another place the queen visited 36 years ago in Guangzhou. She had a break at the hotel before taking the H.M.Y. BRITANNIA from Huangpu Port in Guangzhou to Hong Kong.

Luci Han, assistant director of the hotel, led us to an exhibition hall where we could take a closer look at the queen's visit.

"At that time, some ingredients were difficult to obtain, so the hotel needed to coordinate the import of some ingredients from Hong Kong through the Transportation Department of Guangdong Province to prepare for the queen's visit, lunch in particular," Luci said.

During her trip, the queen went to the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Kunming, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, and visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Terracotta Warriors, among other prominent landmarks.

In a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the queen said it was her great pleasure to accept China's invitation. Chinese officials said her visit gave powerful impetus to the deepening of relations between the two countries.

Today, China-UK economic ties have a solid foundation. In 2021, China was the UK's third largest trading partner and the largest source of import.

On Friday, China expressed its deep condolences on the passing of the queen and said it will continue to promote bilateral ties.

Mao Ning, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the queen made important contributions to the enhancement of understanding between the Chinese and British peoples and the expansion of friendly exchanges.

"China is willing to continue to work with the British royal family and all walks of life to promote the continuous development of bilateral relations," Mao said.